The sign is proudly displayed in the village

Helmdon has been chosen as the Northamptonshire Village Of The Year for 2002.

The prestigious award was presented to the Chairman of Helmdon Parish Council, Peter Burns, in a ceremony in Northamptonshire on 26th September 2002.

Helmdon beat off stiff competition from 69 other villages in Northamptonshire and will now go through to the regional competition in 2003.

The Villages Of The Year competition is sponsored by Calor Gas and organised locally by Northamptonshire ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England). Any village can take part and there are various categories that entrants are judged on. It's not about picture-postcard villages, nor how neat and tidy things are, this competition is about people and the community spirit that those people generate.

The Lady O'Dowd Cup

Helmdon has also been successful in the past, picking up the County award in 1996 and 1999. The village is vibrant and active, it's quite incredible how much goes on in a relatively small village. It's the sense of community that makes Helmdon such a good place to live, and this catches the judge's eye.

Peter Burns was presented with the Lady O'Dowd Trophy, which is a new trophy this year for the County winner. "I was very pleased to accept the award on behalf of the village," said Peter. "This is the village's award, won by all the people of Helmdon, everyone should be very proud of their achievement".

Last year's winners were Moulton, a large village just to the north of Northampton. They will be taking part in the 2002 regional competition to be held in October.

Links In This Section:
• Village Of The Year Celebrations - November 2002
• Calor Gas Village Of The Year Web Site
• Northamptonshire ACRE